How much does it cost to register a short-term rental in Toronto? (2026)

Cost 1: The City registration fee

To operate legally you register as a short-term rental operator with the City of Toronto. The fee is:

Annual, not one-time. You pay it every year to keep the registration active.
$390, the same to register or to renew. The fee is subject to an annual increase, so confirm the current figure in the registration system before you pay.
Paid by credit card, at the time you submit.
Non-refundable. This is the part that matters. If your application is denied, the fee is gone.

On its own, that is a manageable cost of doing business. The problem is that most people treat it as a formality and pay it before checking whether their application will actually pass.

Cost 2: The Municipal Accommodation Tax (ongoing)

Every short-term stay in Toronto is subject to the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT), a percentage of your booking revenue that you are responsible for collecting and remitting. You also file a MAT return every quarter, even in a quarter where you had zero bookings, and a missed filing can block your renewal. This is an ongoing cost and obligation, not a one-time one. We break down how it works, the current rate, and the deadlines in our Municipal Accommodation Tax guide.

Cost 3: Renewal, every year

Registration is not permanent. It renews annually on your own date, at the current fee, and it does not renew automatically. If it lapses you cannot legally operate until you re-register, so the yearly fee is a standing cost for as long as you host. Our step-by-step registration guide covers the renewal cycle.

The cost nobody prices in: a denied application

Here is where the real money is lost. The City reviews your application against strict eligibility rules, and if you do not meet them, it denies you. When that happens:

Your fee is gone. It is non-refundable, denial or not.
You can be locked out for 12 months. A denial or revocation can bar you from re-registering at that address for a year, which means a year of not being able to operate legally.
You may have already been advertising. If you listed before the number was issued, that is its own compliance problem, with fines that generally run from about $300 to $1,000 for common infractions.

So the true cost of getting it wrong is not the fee. It is the fee, plus a year of lost income, plus any enforcement exposure. That is a large number, and it is entirely avoidable.

This is the whole point of checking first

The City takes your fee whether it approves you or not, and it does not tell you in advance whether you will pass. The single cheapest thing you can do is confirm your application will clear before you pay. Our free pre-submission check mirrors the City's form and flags denial risks in a couple of minutes, at no cost. It is the difference between spending nothing to find out and spending the fee to find out the hard way.

What about Airbnb and Booking.com fees?

Those are separate from the City. Airbnb and Booking.com, the only two platforms the City licenses to operate in Toronto, each charge their own service fees on bookings. Those are set by the platforms, not the City, and they are a cost of using the platform, not a cost of registration. Do not confuse the two: paying Airbnb or Booking.com does nothing toward your City registration, and vice versa.

Putting the numbers together

For a compliant Toronto operator, the recurring costs are the annual $390 registration fee, the Municipal Accommodation Tax on your bookings, and the platform service fees on each stay. Those are predictable and part of running the business. The only unpredictable, avoidable cost is a denied or revoked registration, and the way you avoid it is by confirming eligibility before you pay, not after.

Don't pay the City fee to find out you'll be denied

Our free pre-submission check mirrors the City's form and flags your denial risks in about two minutes. No payment required.

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Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to register a short-term rental in Toronto?

The City of Toronto registration fee is $390, paid by credit card. It is non-refundable and subject to an annual increase, and the renewal fee is also $390. On top of that you collect and remit the Municipal Accommodation Tax on your bookings.

Is the Toronto STR registration fee refundable if I get denied?

No. The application fee is non-refundable. If your application is denied, you lose the fee, and a denial or revocation can also bar you from re-registering for 12 months. That is why it is worth confirming your application will pass before you pay.

Are there ongoing costs after I register?

Yes. Registration renews every year for a fee, and you must collect and remit the Municipal Accommodation Tax on your short-term bookings and file it every quarter, even in quarters with no bookings.

Does the City fee include the platform fees from Airbnb or Booking.com?

No. The City registration fee is separate from the service fees Airbnb and Booking.com charge on bookings. Those platform fees are set by the platforms, not the City.